1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to golf ball storage and dispensing devices as are maintained in a golfer's bag that operate to dispense golf balls one at a time.
2. Prior Art
Devices for storing and dispensing on demand one at a time round objects, such as golf, tennis balls, and the like, are certainly not new. A number of devices such provide for storing balls within a tube under spring biasing. One such device for dispensing balls one by one out of the top thereof is shown in a patent to Slater, U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,897. The Slater patent, like the present invention, involves a tube with a spring biased platform to urge a column of golf balls therein out of a mouth or top end. The Slater device, however, employs as a dispensing component, flexing leaves, each having an opposing shoulder that extends across the mouth or top end of a cylindrical container. The leaves are to flex outwardly when a golfer grasps a first ball in a column of balls and pulls it upwardly, against the bent shoulders, flexing the leaves apart. Distinct from the Slater patent, the present invention provides a dispensing cup, in one embodiment, that is rotated to pass a single ball out from a tubular housing end and in another embodiment provides a laterally movable head whose passage across the dispenser tube dispenses an individual ball from a tubular housing end into a golfer's hand.
Additional to the Slater patent, a number of other patents have been issued in the area of ball dispensers for both golf and tennis balls. Some examples of such are Patents to Nelson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,280, that shows a container that provides spring biasing of a column of tennis balls, but does not involve a dispensing mechanism like those of the present invention; and to McClure, U.S. Pat. No. 1,810,491, that shows a container with balls maintained therein under spring tensioning to urge them out of a mouth end, and includes a dispensing mechanism that consists of opposing rocker arms that pivot to pass a first ball to be pulled therefrom by a golfer operator while blocking passage of a second ball.
Additional to the above, other devices for containing a column of balls are also shown in Patents to Rodriguez, U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,251; and Pose, U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,668, that all involves gravity feed structure, with balls dispensed through a gate that is operated to guide a golf ball onto a practice tee. A salmon egg dispenser is shown in a patent Johnston, U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,861, that includes a gate arrangement that is capable of passing a single salmon egg from a column of salmon eggs, the gate moving across and picking up a single salmon egg and blocking a following egg. The arrangement of Johnston, however, requires an operator to overcome spring biasing of a piston that travels across the tube end, with release of the piston picking up a single egg from the column end. Whereas, the movable dispensing piston and sleeve of one embodiment of the present invention involves passing of an opening in the piston across the tube end, against the spring biasing, for picking up and dispensing a single golf ball.
Additional golf ball dispensing devices that involve gravity feeding of golf balls through a gate to be set on a tee or like driving support, are shown in patents to Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,204; Hoffman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,558; Eberle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,446; Hogeberg, U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,985; and in a United Kingdom Patent No. 374,052 to Breakey. The devices of these patents are for passing a golf ball from a storage container onto a tee and involve lever type structures for selectively passing an individual ball. Further, a device known as a gleaner for gathering nuts, is shown in a U.S. Pat. No. 908,208, that includes a lever arm operated gate, this is for moving a nut into a housing and is structurally and functionally unlike the present invention.